Compton wasn't always street
gangs and ganster rap. It was the ultimate Los Angeles area middle class
suburban community and it was called the Hub City because it is 11 miles
from Los Angeles and 11 miles from the Long Beach harbor.

The City of Compton is a ten square mile
city with a population of 100,000, which lies in the heart of Los
Angeles. In the last 30 years, this city has seen radical racial shifts
from predominately white to black, then Hispanic. Compton is bordered on
the south by Long Beach, and to the north is Watts, commonly referred to
as South Central L.A. Due to the Watts riots in 1967, the white
population began moving out and the black population began moving in.

At this time in South Central L.A., black
gangs were forming and calling themselves Crips and identifying by
wearing the color blue. The Crip gangs also established themselves in
Compton. By the early 70's to combat the crip gangs, a new gang was
formed on Piru Street in Compton, calling themselves "Bloods".
The Bloods associated themselves with the color red which was the school
colors of centennial high in Compton. Compton was virtually unknown to
the outside world, but Gangster rap music in the upcoming years was
about to change all that.

In the early eighties, Rappers like
"EASY E", "DR. DRE","ICE CUBE", and
"DJ QUICK" were nothing more than young kids growing up in the
harsh streets of Compton. Snoop Dog was in North Long Beach, which is on
the border of Compton, involving himself with a Crip gang.

Easy E, DR. DRE and Ice Cube were hanging
out in the area of Atlantic Dr., a street in Compton known for the sales
of narcotics, and a known hang out for "Atlantic Drive, N-hood and
Kelly Park Crips".

DJ Quick, was on the north side of
Compton where most of our Blood gangs claimed their neighborhoods. DJ
Quick hung with a group of Bloods called the "Tree Top Pirus".
The CEO of Death Row Records Suge Marion Knight, was growing up in the
streets of Compton, in an area known as "Mob Piru".

The influence of rap started in Jamaica,
then New York City, eventually getting to the west coast. Compton
rappers began to sing songs about the street life and growing up as a
gang member in Compton. They began making underground tapes, which
spread like wildfire with the youth of Compton, and they loved it. These
rappers would call it "Gangster Rap".

Rock cocaine was at it's height and the
street gangs were out of control. Rock houses seemed to be on every
street. Selling cocaine was their way of making big money, which meant
better weapons. The money made by these major Compton cocaine dealers
was in the millions. But the competition was too much, so the spread of
rock cocaine made it's way across the United States. The competition was
not heavy there, so these cocaine dealers could raise the prices, and as
a result, even more money was made with less danger to the dealers. As a
result of the spread of rock cocaine across America, these Compton gang
members were making their influences known. Soon these other cities and
states were having drive-by shootings, drug rip-offs. The Crips and
Bloods gang culture was being introduced and law enforcement agencies
from these other states did not know how to deal the related crime.

The mid-80s were still out of control and
Compton was a battlefield with gang warfare, averaging over seventy
homicides a year. The streets were infested with rock cocaine, and the
money seen while taking down these rock houses was unbelievable.

The early-90s were upon us, Gangster rap
had put the city of Compton on the map. It was about this time when
known "Mob Piru" member Marion Suge Knight wanted to start
Death Row Records. We thought we just about seen everything, as the
onslaught of murders continued and rap music continued hitting the
charts. Little did we know it was just beginning. It was 1992 as the
Rodney King trial came to an end. The 1992 riots began and Compton lost
millions of dollars to looting, arson, and suffered two riot fatalities.

Compton again made history, as the
aftermath of the riots brought the Crips and Bloods together for the
first time anywhere. There were several get-togethers at some of the
parks in Compton, where hundreds of Crips and Bloods got together in
peace. After about two months it ended. The shooting and killing started
up again.

Tupac and Suge were shot the night of
September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Most of the Compton gang members
involved had returned to Compton on September 8th, and 9th. As we were
coordinating with LVPD, contacting informants, and gathering
information, the City of Compton turned into a battleground. The next 5
days in Compton, the toll would be 3 murders and 11 attempted murders as
a result of this feud.

The city government of Compton was a
story in itself and corruption ran wild. One mayor went to federal
prison for taking bribes and the next mayor continued the corruption,
nepotism, and thirst of absolute power for controling not only the city
but also the Police and Fire Departments. This led to the disbanding of
the Police Department, which had been around since 1888. Mayor Bradley
and his cohorts on the city council voted to disband the Police
Department because we protested his corrupt administration.

Although Compton P.D. is no more, the
following events have since taken place: Eric Perrodin (a District
Attorney and former Compton cop) won the position of mayor in Compton;
Omar Bradley is out of a job; Bradley and his entourage are currently
being investigated by the FBI (search warrants were recently served at
City Hall and at his home); Bradley and his cohorts have been indicted
for corruption by the District Attorney and are awaiting trial.

Compton is currently policed by the LA
County Sheriffs Department. Most of the Compton Police Officers are
currently employed by the Sheriffs Department or other Southern
California police agencies.

Everyone who put on a Compton PD uniform,
gave their lives, dedicated their careers to fight the battle in the
"Gang War Zone" in a place we believe is the toughest place in
Los Angeles, should be proud to say they were Compton PD!

Gang Unit

Most everyone that worked Compton Police Department for a few years was
an expert in gangs. They dealt with them on a daily basis. There were
many excellent officers assigned to work gangs over the years, and we
learned a lot from the ones that came before us.

Most notably, Houirie Taylor and Reggie Wright. Both were from the south
central and Compton area where the CRIPS and BLOODS were formed. They
lived the history of what led to the forming of the black gangs. Taylor
and Wright gave lectures and seminars about the beginning of the gangs,
that a lot of today’s experts have adopted and teach. They started the
department’s first continuing gang unit, and everyone that came behind
then utilized their knowledge, and expertise in dealing with gang
members to be successful. The gang members respected Taylor and Wright
for their knowledge of the gang community. They taught the gang officers
that to truly be successful at what you do; you have to know the gang
members. This included the history of the gangs, the conflicts,
rivalries, and alliances. To accomplish this it took time in the street
everyday to observe and contact gang members. It seemed like everyone in
Compton knew Houirie and Reggie. By the mid t o late eighties Eric
Perrodin, Mark Anderson, and Bob Baker were also in the gang unit, and
were extremely successful. Anderson and Baker then spent much of the
next 10 years assigned to gang/narcotics federal task forces, and were
instrumental in taking down large scale gang narcotics operations.
Perrodin eventually left the police department and became an L.A.C.O.
deputy district attorney and later mayor of Compton.

Ladd, Brennan and Wright became part of a gang homicide unit in 1989 and
remained in the gang unit until 2000. In 1995, Ray Richardson and Eddie
Aguirre joined the unit and immediately made their presence known. With
the addition of Richardson and Aguirre and their added gang
intelligence, there were very few gang related crimes where the suspects
were not known.

In late 1999 the lying convicted felon mayor, Omar Bradley put Chief
Taylor and Capt. Percy Perrodin on administrative leave for fabricated
reasons. This was to facilitate Bradley, his crooked allies, and
conniving power hungry people from Compton Police Department to run the
Department as they wished.

Gang Unit members Aguirre, Richardson, and Brennan were elected to the
Compton Police Officer’s Association as President, Vice President, and
Board Member in January 2000. The membership voted no confidence in
Mayor Bradley. The ensuing months were embroiled in turmoil. Police
protests at council meetings, Bradley hiring crooks as his personal
security, police union members lied on, and suspended from
their jobs.

Bradley who tired of the spotlight being put on his crookedness, said
that he would get rid of the Compton Police, and did. He contracted with
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for police services in
September 1999. Bradley then lost the election to Eric Perrodin, and has
been sentenced to 3 years in prison for his corruption.